France - How To Identify Sage Series, Type Ia-C And Type IIa-E ?

I really should have got myself a better catalog for France ....but I only have Scott, and it is obviously doing a very poor job on the beautiful sage series of France.

I'm sitting with an enourmous accumulation of sage stamps, and there are obvious differences not identified in Scott, both in impressions and in shades and paper.

Can anyone please help me with an online resource for how to identify the different types? I've learned there are type 1A-C and type IIA-E. How do I identify them?
Jon

Jon
I can't believe that Scott doesn't explain this! The basic key is the lettering under the design. In Type I, the letter "N" of "INV" is under the "B" of "Republique". In Type II, the same letter "N" is found under the "U" of "Republique". If you're going to spend lots of time with these, it may be worth spending some money on the Yvert or Maury catalogues for France. They're both lovely books - Maury being rather better. They're around £20.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Catalogue-...maury+france

http://en.yvert.com/A-156143-volume...-france.aspx

Geoff

Jon, It occurs to me that you can find a used catalog at one of the European bookstores. They usually run a lot cheaper and you really do not need the latest one.

Peter

Geoff, I probably was not clear enough in my question . Scott does identify type I and II as you describe. It is the sub-types (IA, IB, IC + IIA - IIE that are not described in Scott. I have seen the sub-types mentioned several times, but I struggle to find a good reference.

I should and will get myself a Maury, however in the mean time I was hoping someone would help me out, e.g by scanning the relevant pages from Maury or whatever other detailed catalog...

Jon

I fear that you may need a still more specialised Yvert catalogue (which I don't have) for your purposes. I'm happy to scan you the Sage pages from Maury as a starting point - unless French specialists can come up with something better. Will take a few days, though. Send me a PM if you want me to do this.

Maury catalogues are hard to obtain at the best of times - older, used ones are pretty expensive.

Geoff

Thanks for trying to help Geoff. Nobody else chimmed in, so I guess I will just order a detailed cataloge myself anyway

Did you ever order a detailed catalogue? I've just ordered this, in preparation for a Winter of French stamps!

http://www.yvert.com/A-185193-le-sp...-france.aspx

Postage is pretty high - wish that I'd picked it up the last time I was in Paris.

EDIT: Never mind. OP clarified his original question.

Gentlemen - I'm bumping my own thread....since then I've obtained the Maury catalog. Surprisngly, my Maury does not do me any favor to explain the different SUBtypes (!) of the Sage series

However, I found some helpful info on the internet:



I copied this from a reference that was made to assist in identifying the infamous 'Prussian blue' (Maury/Yvert # 84 - Scott #87), regardless the subtypes IIA, IIB and IIC are illustrated. As well as a ton of shades for each subtype, far beyond my Maury catalog. (The table is listing Maury variety numbers, so obviously there must be a more detailed catalog from Maury than the one I have!)

Anyway - I am wondering...
Does these subtypes only apply for the 1c - or for any other denominations in the sage series?
Are there any other subtypes?
Anybody familiar with these - or maybe it is simply a minefield one just as well can stay away from?

Any assistance is much appreciated, as always

On another note - if anybody wonders if they have a Prussian blue or not - check out this:
http://didier-galagain.monsite-oran...c5607cf7.pdf

Jon

Thanks for the link. Alarming to find that there's not only a Prussian blue, but a pale Prussian blue too!

I agree! I did not see any reason to include both Prussian blues in my database or give empty spaces for both in my album

@geoffHa - thanks for chiming in, I was hoping you would Did you ever get the Yvert specialised 1849-1900? If so, does it offer info about the sage sub-types ? In the table in my previous post, one can get the impression that only Maury, Ceres and Dallay are dealing with them and not Yvert, but I presume that is not necessarily the case.

Jon
Yes, I got it. There is information about the 1c, and also the 2c and 15c. The book isn't very amenable to scanning, but I'll have a go tomorrow.
Geoff

GeoffHa - Wow, that would be absolutely wonderful! Hope you have great success - and I will be very thankfull.

@Blaamand - Thanks for the link on Bleu de Prusse and once you get all the sage sub-types etc..... I will then be able to start France stamps

He he - welcome to the party Renden!